The City of Celina Launches CITIBOT, America’s First Text Messaging Software System for Civic Engagement with Government

The City of Celina is the third city in the country to launch CITIBOT, America’s first interactive text messaging and customer service software system for civic engagement with government.

With CITIBOT, citizens of Celina can text search words to quickly access relevant city information about trash pickup times, permitting info and public meeting announcements. Citizens are also able to crowdsource city issues, including reporting potholes, broken street signs and missed trash pickups, all through an interactive chatbot that responds immediately to a citizen’s text message. When the city fixes the reported issue, CITIBOT will follow-up to let the citizen know their query has been resolved.

CITIBOT, LLC is a Charleston, SC-based tech startup that was formed in 2016. Bratton Riley, CITIBOT’s co-founder and CEO, was inspired by the evolution of the conversational chatbot and its ability to help governments be more accessible and accountable to every citizens.

“By opening up new lines of communication, CITIBOT also helps cities efficiently allocate resources saving them time and money and building trust within the community. We’re ecstatic that Celina has decided to adopt the technology and bring a new form of communication and accessibility to its city,” said Riley.

For more information on how Celina is utilizing CITIBOT, visit http://www.celina-tx.gov. To start a conversation with CITIBOT, Celina residents can text “HELLO” to 972-458-3920. New features and continued messenger app integration including Facebook, are anticipated in future updates.

About Citibot:Citibot is a tool for citizens and their governments to use for efficient and effective communication and civic change. Using text message, Citibot can help to report a problem, search the city website, send notifications and view analytics. Citibot empowers citizens to solve city problems and get questions answered immediately via text message. For more information visit http://citibot.io or connect with Citibot on Facebook (/citibotio) or Twitter (@citibot_io).